Suicide Prevention Sat - Excitement & Social Anxiety Let's talk
In this live‑stream, Brooke Cheney opens Suicide Prevention Saturday by highlighting the disproportionate rate of suicide among gun owners—two‑thirds of gun deaths are self‑inflicted—and urges the community to address mental‑health issues rather than focusing solely on gun control. She frames the session around the theme of "excitement vs. social anxiety," sharing personal stories of how anxiety has kept her from social events and how she learned to reinterpret physiological arousal (racing heart, tight throat) as excitement instead of fear. Drawing on teachings from Tony Robbins, Tony Robbins‑style performance coaching, and classic anxiety‑management concepts, Brooke outlines concrete practices: breath awareness, grounding (hand on chest or belly), present‑moment focus, questioning catastrophic thoughts, and reframing self‑talk. She emphasizes that, like learning to shoot, these skills require regular practice. Throughout the broadcast she engages with a chat roll‑call, naming community members (DJ, Barbecue, G‑Webs, etc.), reinforcing a sense of belonging and peer support. Brooke also discusses upcoming events such as the SHOT Show, using them as both motivation and a test case for applying anxiety‑reduction techniques in real‑world social settings. The stream repeatedly returns to the idea that each listener can be a "one‑to‑one" conduit for suicide prevention, encouraging viewers to share information, reach out to friends, and recognize that many people—including public figures—experience anxiety. The session concludes with logistical announcements about future live streams, pop‑up sessions, and a promise to continue the conversation, positioning the community as an ongoing resource for mental‑health awareness within the gun‑owner culture.
Chapters
Yeah, okay, good. All right, this is new and different. I did not know this would stay up while the promo was going, but there it is. All right, hi everyone, it is 9 PM Eastern. Suicide Prevention Saturday has now begun officially. And why are we all here? Because as gun owners, we know that 2 out of every 3 gun deaths are actually suicide. And all of those people who say they want to save lives by taking away our guns don't seem to understand the actual problem that we have with mental health. So I try to educate you guys, you guys try to educate other people, and maybe someday we can actually work on violence prevention and suicide prevention and actually make a difference. So, um, that is the plan. All right, so if you look over in the chat, if you can see the chat, depends if you're here live or doing the replay, because sometimes the chat doesn't show up in the replay because I don't click the right button. So anyway, Barbecue says that I would not say 2A something. I gotta scroll up here and 2A or something like that, a 2A-er, um, and 2A-ness. Yes, there you go. Thank you, DJ. So, uh, Barbecue owes me a buck for saying 2A-ness live on air, and I'll say 2A-ness again, so now he'll owe me 2 bucks, and then we'll say 2A-ness again and he'll owe me 3 bucks is how I think that the math should go. Y'all out there decide. Um, so that's just my thought, um, but we will see what happens. All right, so I've been teaching all day and it's about, um, it— my face is cold and it hurts degrees outside right now. And yes, I've been on the range today because that's the kind of teacher I am. If my students are willing to do it, so will I. So Um, yeah, so my face. Anyway, here we go. Um, excitement and social anxiety, that's what we're going to talk about tonight. Very exciting, I know. But why, why am I talking about that tonight? Oh, I don't know, maybe it's the same reason I've been talking about SHOT Show for the past like month once I finally realized I was actually committed to doing it. I absolutely love the idea that I'm going to SHOT Show. However, I am someone who has struggled with social anxiety for so much of my life, it's just not even funny. My friends would invite me to a party and I would say yes, and then the day of the party I'd be freaking out. I'm like, nobody actually wants to talk to me, nobody really wants me there. Oh, it's going to be horrible. I'm going to sit in a corner all by myself and no one's going to talk to me. And that was a little voice inside of my head that would go on and I would feel really bad. And then, you know, sometimes I would get sick and I wouldn't be able to go to the party, or worse yet, I'd actually physically make myself sick and end up not going to the party. Once I got to the party, I usually had a great time. Not usually, pretty much every time I had an awesome time with my friends and family and it was a good time. But that social anxiety prior to just going is just, it's what happens up here. It's what the words are that our brain is saying to ourselves. So there are oftentimes when you'll hear me talk about we, when I'm talking about myself, because it's me and all the different voices in there. Because think about it, when you're thinking and you're hearing yourself think, who's talking? I think we're all a we of some sort or another. So anywho, um, anxiety. Lots and lots of people have it, especially people you would never imagine have it. Like, there are various superstars and movie stars and rock concert guys and all sorts of people from different walks of life who have crazy anxiety, but you would never know because once they show up, they are the life of the party, and not in a million years would you think that they have anxiety. But this is why we do Suicide Friends and Saturdays, so you understand that if you're one of those people who has social anxiety, you are not alone. And maybe you show it, and maybe you know it, and other people just hide it. Because just like when I asked my friends from high school if they had any idea I was suicidal as a teen, they all said no, because those of us who have mental problems can hide them really well sometimes. Um, So we're going to talk about definitions of what our brain says to ourselves and how we have to be aware of, A, what's going on in here, what are the voices saying. And no, I'm not talking like you've got people telling you to go do silly things, but just like I said, if you think about your thinking, who's doing the talking? So DJ, with that— oh, Heidi, sorry. Would you say hi to everyone for me? Because you're good like that and you've been keeping track. I am confident.
I'd be happy to. Guns and Barbecue is out there first. Misty Mrs. Wayne is out there along with Ron Wayne. Heidi F is out there, so is Michael Dunn, and Guns Websites is out there. And on the— let's see, on the Facebook side, somebody called Blind Guy Photography. I have a sneaking suspicion we might know who that is.
Yeah, he was blaming me for making fun of blind guys. If you can see the chat But that was not it at all. So in the description for this, I talk about the excitement, right? That the heart pounding, the sort of like electrical feeling that your body gets when you're like, oh my gosh, I'm about to do something super exciting. And you're just like, ah, well, here's the thing Tony Robbins taught me, that all of that, when you deal with someone who has anxiety, all of those same feelings tend to be how someone will define anxiety. And his example that he gave us during that speech was he deals with performers all the time, and some of them talk about how excited they get to go out and serve the crowd, and others talk about how that— how, like, how terrified they are to go on the stage every single time.. And the physical response is the same. So what's the difference? It's like heart beating faster, feels like you're slightly being electrified, maybe your throat's getting a little bit tighter, breathing might be more rapid or deeper. I don't know how you go, but all of those physical traits, the difference between stage fright and elation is how the performers said that that was the experience, uh, experience they were having. So you'd have all those physical attributes and it's excitement, or you have all those physical attributes and now it's anxiety and fear. So what does this mean? It means you have a ton of control over what's up here and what these physical things that are happening to you mean, because If your heart beating faster makes you feel like you're excited and you convince yourself that you're excited because this is going faster, then you're excited. If your heart goes faster and it's because you're afraid because it's dark out and there's a thunderstorm and you don't know what's in the dark, then you're going to be afraid. So you have control, at least somewhat, of your feelings. Now, are there people that really don't? Yes. However, what do we have to do? Just like learning how to shoot a firearm, you have to practice on a regular basis to first be aware of what is physically happening to me, what am I doing, what am I feeling, and then ask the second question is, what am I associating this with? Am I excited or am I freaked out? And you get to choose what answer that's going to be. And for the most part, if we go to the excited side of things, we're going to be much better, much more resourceful. If we go to the, "Oh, I'm anxious and afraid" sort of things, we generally don't make very good decisions. Now, the challenge is if you've been excited all the time— sorry, excited is over here, um, but you, uh, let me see, I want to go the other way— if you've been anxious forever and ever, you've programmed your brain into these feelings mean this. And so it's going to take a long time, or it could take a long time, to switch over to, "Oh wait, Maybe I'm just excited. I did not realize it. So, um, here I am on my way to SHOT Show, and it's super exciting because I'm gonna get to see some of you all live and in person for real. However, there's still that feeling of, what if I have spinach in my teeth when I finally meet G. Webs in person? Ew, what's he gonna think of me? Will he think that I never brush my teeth? Those are the disempowering thoughts that go around in there. And those are the ones when you're aware of them, you're like, okay, knock it off. First of all, G-Webs knows that I brush my teeth, or at least I have faith that he thinks I do at least. And do people really care? Maybe, maybe not. However, G-Webs would also be nice enough to say, hey Brooke, you got spinach in your teeth. And so everything would go on as planned. And the other part of this is to flip the channel, right? If I met G webs for the first time and he had spinach in his teeth, I would tell him. I wouldn't think any less of him. I just would know that he ate salad for lunch or something along those lines. So I think one of the biggest, easiest ways for me at least to change that anxiety feeling to, oh, what would I do and treat others? How would I treat others that I'm meeting for the first time? Well, I'm going to give you grace and I'm going to be super happy that I get to see you. And then I just have to remember that, well, hopefully that's how people are going to see me. And if they aren't, that's not my problem. There's a new freeing thought for those of us who have social anxiety that maybe other people are just as nervous to meet you as you are to them. But the reality of it is I think pretty much most people want to be nice. I find that gun people are fun people. So Michael Dunn says that it takes over way too bad when I go out in public. And I am guessing we're talking about anxiety because excitement is not generally a bad thing. So sorry, I'm not laughing at you, Michael. I was looking at something else. So yeah, so next time you're having that anxiety, assuming that's what we're talking about, then pay attention. Um, and yeah, excited is over here. Really? Are you sure about that? I was pretty sure excited was over here, but yes, exactly. That's what I thought. Anyway, um, next time you notice you're feeling anxiety, because like I literally have let anxiety rob me of events and, um, experiences because I was too freaked out to go somewhere. And I found out later in life, looking back at these things where I have this super anxiety where I just like canceled or, oh, I don't feel well, so I didn't go, that I was focused on me. I was focused on what my experience was. I was focused on what others were going to think of me, and I was worried about being awkward and not cool and in the way and that I didn't deserve to be there, right? And all that was me-focused versus, um, thinking about what do I have to give to you? What do I have to share with my new friends? What can I do for you? And how cool would it be to give you a handshake, give you a hug, depending on what kind of person you are? I know not everyone's a hugger, but if you run into me at SHOT Show Just let me know you're not a hugger, otherwise you're getting a hug. So, um, so when you're realizing that you're anxious, uh, one of the biggest things you can do is be like, okay, what's actually happening? Because the anxiety tends to be what we think is going to happen. So anxiety is in the future, right? It's that I'm going to do something stupid, and then Gwebs is going to think I'm stupid, and then Gwebs is not going to talk to me anymore. I'm sorry for picking on Gwebs, but his name is just sort of the easiest to say of all the people that are over here. So, um, but it's just one of those things, right? Is like anxiety is we're looking into the future and depression is we're looking into the past generally, right? Depression is, oh, my life sucks because of all of these things that happened to me, right? And anxiety tends to be in the future of what we're afraid of or what could happen or worst case scenarios, like, oh my goodness, I'm so afraid. For lots of different reasons. So Michael, if this will help you or anyone else out there that suffers from anxiety just before you're going out, try to bring yourself back to the present moment, right? Right here, right now. So take that breath, think about what's happening right now. Well, you're sitting here typing on your keyboard, you're watching me have a conversation, Is anything bad happening? No, it's not. At least I really hope not. And when you're getting ready and you feel that tightness in your chest, your throat's starting to close up, you're like, oh, this is horrible. Ask yourself, what's horrible? Like, actually be inquisitive about what's going on right this second. Because like I said, I was afraid that I would go and then, you know, no one would want to talk to me, all of those things. And I'm a loser and I suck. And, you know, those are not empowering thoughts. Even a little bit? No, not really. But it's like, wait a second, if I had the wherewithal that I have now and I bring myself to right now, it's like, huh, what's actually happening right now? I'm getting ready to go out. Nothing bad has actually occurred. Could something bad happen? Yes. But what's happening right now? So that would be my first little baby stepping stone of trying to overcome your anxiety is actually pay attention to what's happening in this moment. Feel your breath, for example, right? We breathe all day long. Our heart beats all day long. We pretty much ignore it and don't do anything. But go ahead, put your hand on your chest. Is it moving? Hopefully, yeah, unless you're a belly breather, and then you have to put it down on your belly, and then you can feel it go in and out. And sometimes that moment of centering— oh, my favorite meditation. Ready for this? Y'all ready? Y'all can meditate with me. I know people say, oh, you can't meditate. Ready? Take a breath in, let it out. That little pause in between your breaths, that's an in-between. That's a moment of meditation if you're paying attention to it. So those are just some of the things that I have suggestions for y'all and things that work for most people. You are welcome, Mr. Dunn. Yeah, like seriously, anything that makes you come to the present moment, try it. Let me know if it helps you because like I said, A, I assume you're younger than me because in your little thumbnail you just look like you're a young boy relative. So yeah, it can be something simple. And why would you sue Sarah Prince on Saturday? Well, so that I can hand out little hopefully nuggets of information that may be helpful. And G-Webs, I did see your thing about your driving and can't type, so, but you did a good job. Hopefully you're at a stoplight, stop sign when you type that. Um, all right, so DJ, my dear friend, I believe more people have joined, uh, since you did roll call, so if you don't mind, go ahead, do that again.
Be happy to. On the Facebook side tonight, we were joined by Blind Guy Photography. On the YouTube side, Guns and Barbecue is out there, so was Misty Mrs. Wayne. Ron Wayne was in the room. Heidi F was along. Michael Dunn's out there. Gun Websites driving and joining along. Sorry, a Fan 93 is out there. So is Vanessa Kitty. And, uh, last in the room, Tactical Fudd. Hey, Buck, that's your roll call.
Very cool. All right, see, look, I got the— I got the button before you did. Um, anyway, So yeah, so because like I said, I've been so excited about the idea that I'm going to SHOT and I'm super excited. And am I truly nervous about meeting people? Probably, but not like— it's not like it used to be where it's like, I will get up in the morning and I'll be excited. I'm going out onto the floor and running into people. The thing that will be embarrassing is when I don't know what your name is. And I'll be like, 'Uh, who are you?' So, um, have some grace for me on that one. And because, like, DJ, it's taken me probably a year and a half to know what his real name was— is, um, the same with Gun Websites, who, you know, Gun Websites, DJ, and Barbecue, who are the people I've known the longest on YouTube. And it easily took me a year plus to interact with them regularly until I finally remember what their real names were. So for all of you who will be at SHOT Show, uh, feel free to come in, introduce yourselves, and like I said, get a hug. Uh, oh gee, JH586 joins us, so hi. Um, yeah. Oh, Mike White, you almost missed tonight, but you didn't. And here's the beauty of YouTube, you get to go back and watch the replay and hear all of the fun and exciting things that I dropped. So short version, start being aware of what's happening here. Pay attention to the voice that's inside your head, because I don't know how to explain it other than when you're thinking and you hear your voice talking in your head, it's the voice in your head, so versus the exterior voice. And pay attention to what it's saying. If it is saying stupid things like you suck or you're ugly or no one wants to talk to you, knock it back a peg and say, really? What? What? No. What's happening right now? Hand on chest, take that breath, or belly if you're a belly breather, and come present for a moment. As simple as that sounds, it's hard to do that when you're in that loop of self-defeating conversation because you're not resourceful when we're anxious, depressed, all of that.. But if you just start paying attention on a regular basis of, hmm, am I helping myself right now? Am I hindering myself? And ask yourself that a couple times a day. Some people are really good and they just automatically do it. Other people, when you're in a bad place, um, sorry, if you're in a bad place, the thing that sucks about that is you're not very resourceful. So this is why when you're in good places, you want to get in the habit of asking the question, am I— what am I doing right now? And then paying attention to what's happening. I'm glad to know that— oops, wrong one. Hi, Mike White. Yeah, when Mrs. Wayne meets everybody, yes, they'll definitely be called by their YouTube names. And yeah, it is kind of weird funny because like even if I'm talking to DJ directly, I tend to use you know, I call him DJ. I don't call him by his name. Same with Gwebs and Barbecue, because I'm like, I know them, but I don't use them. So, um, constant conversation— that, that's called— oh yeah, so id, not ID. Um, that we can go, go all Freudian on all of this, the, uh, constant conversation within oneself. So yes, uh, Freud who also said sometimes cigar is just a cigar. And for those of you who get that, great. And for those of you who don't, go look up Freud. And yeah, there's a whole bunch of stuff. So yeah, Dr. Phil, what do you know, Brooke? Exactly. Well, so here's my, here's the other reason that I do this on a weekly basis since 2018. I know a lot of y'all like count how many episodes you do, but I have no idea because I started over on Facebook, so I can't even just go back here. But so some people do know Dr. Phil, and that's where they get their information. Some of y'all only get to listen to me. But the cool thing about— well, all right, the thing that I think is cool about me is like, well, I don't listen to Dr. Phil, but I got Tony Robbins, I got Dean Graziosi, I have, uh, Ed Mylett, Aug Mandino. So all the stuff that I talk about is just stuff that I learned from somebody else. And this is the whole thing of each one reach one, right? If I can reach one person and then that one person can reach somebody else, like Mike White works with kids, and I know we've had, speaking of Mike White having conversations with himself regularly, you know, Mike White works with kids. So anything I know, he and I have talked a little bit online where I've said something in a previous episode and it was helpful or made him think about something in a different way. And so now My doing what I do lets him do something a little bit different with the stuff that he already does. And, and sorry, I just, I have to stop looking at the thing because I'm like, I just see the next thing. So this is the thing, anxiety, back to why do you need to go to the party? Why do you have to be with other people? Do you always have to be with other people? No. Can you be an introvert and still be happy? Yes. But if you're being invited to go out, if you want to go out, don't let anxiety stop you. Really work on overcoming it because understand you are a blessing to someone else. You don't know what you're going to say or do that was going to help change somebody else's life. Now, I have been blessed enough that some people have told me how I've helped them in the past. However, we're not all going to hear that. Oh sure, now Fiona shows up. I see how that is. And yes, Barbecue, lots of squirrels. Did you know I was talking about you in class today? Did you? Did you? I was talking about my unicorn, my, uh, wait, ready? My.45 shooting, uh, unicorn. Within like the first 2 months or whatever of actually learning how to shoot. So yeah, my favorite unicorn. Well, all right, so yes, this is— well, this is a thing, right? We're talking about the anxiety thing where it's like most people would never guess that I have any anxiety about anything, um, but I do. And it's like I said, it's not as bad as it used to be, but, um Yeah, I can talk a lot. Ask my husband, he'll tell you. And Fiona has spent days with me— a day, well, I don't know, has multiple days over different times, which by the way, it's March something and something, so I'll be sending out an email to who wants to go to the Women's Expo with me in March. And it's a Saturday, Sunday, but she'll be with me all day and she'll talk about guns and I'll talk about guns. And the best thing about having Fiona is, A, she's my unicorn, so I get to talk about her, but also she's going to approach things and talk to people differently than I do. So she will attract different people than I do, and she'll be able to get through to different people than I do. Because I think one of the biggest challenges we have in the 2A-ness of our communities is that we'll look at how someone's explaining 2A or mental health or suicide prevention or any of that, like, oh, they're doing it so much better than I am. It's like, no, it's just different, and we need the differences. Um, so anyway, all right, wait, where is it? There was one that made me laugh. Uh, in conversation, I do it a lot. I do too. Where did it go? Squirrel, squirrel. Nope. Yes, conversation with myself. Oh, Yes, there we go. Sorry, I'm like, I knew there was one in here. Okay, so yes, according to— I get— I can't— it's like hors d'oeuvres. I can't say his name when I'm reading it. I say hors d'oeuvres if I try to read it instead of saying hors d'oeuvres. But anyway, this dude here, everything is your mom's fault. That's what he says. And a cigar is a phallic symbol. And then he got yelled at in a conversation that he was having. He was doing a presentation back when people still smoked on stage and all of that. And one of the attendees of this thing, he was up there smoking a cigar, and he previously talked about, like, another paper about how cigars were phallic symbols and blah, blah, blah. And that is when he said, 'A cigar is just— sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.' So you should never have to explain jokes, and it wasn't really meant to be a joke, but anywho. But my cigarettes Always just cigarettes. Yes, this is true. Wow, I can read icons. I feel so smart. All right, so that's another dollar. Yes, DJ, see, just so you know, barbecue, now I think you're up to $4 you owe me. Um, sorry. All right, so with that, we're almost half an hour. It's 26 minutes. I I do try to keep these shorter than longer. I know G23 is always looking for me to do long stuff all of the time, but next week he will have his wish. Next week I am going to be on a plane at 9:00 PM Eastern. So what's going to pop up is my live with Mike Sardini from Walk the Talk America. And that one is just under a full hour because we wanted to make sure that we were off in time. For barbecue or for the other B. No, hillbilly. Yeah, there you go. HB Hillbilly. Yeah, Hillbilly Nation over on Hillbilly Up's stream. So next week it'll be Mike Sodini and myself, and I'll be on a plane, so I won't be in the chat. He might be, DJ might be. So if you guys all have questions, leave them in the comments. Below, uh, next week. And yes, oh, oh, oh, and for the rest of this week, starting tomorrow, maybe Monday, I am absolutely going to be doing pop-up lives, probably just on YouTube, maybe on Facebook, I'm not really sure, um, at least 5 minutes a day. And I don't know what time of day, I imagine it's gonna be all different times because my internal clock's gonna be all messed up with the 3-hour time change. Ah, so yes, Mr. Dunn, I plan on having fun at SHOT Show. I plan on learning a ton of stuff. Uh, I get to meet tons of folks that I haven't physically seen ever. I get to, uh, I get to, uh, see friends who I haven't seen in a long time, like all my DC Project Girls, because I haven't been to DC in, uh, 2 or 3 years now. And, um, yeah, Hillbilly will get over it. It'll be fine. So with all of that, y'all have a great night. Thanks for popping in. I do appreciate your time and your comments, and I will see you all live in 2 weeks. But like I said, I'm going to be doing dailies probably Monday through Friday because I'm on the traveling Sunday and Saturday. All right, good night, y'all.
